I spent a lot of money at Salute this year. I usually do. My general pattern of spending, when it comes to wargames, is to do most of it at conventions. I then buy only a few bits and bobs through the rest of the year. The problem is that this is becoming a habit. When I first went to Salute, I spent a lot because it was an opportunity to get my hands on models and games that I couldn't easily get for most of the year. But it's now becoming something of a tradition. I'm spending a lot of money because I always do.
I've built up quite a haul over the past few years and still haven't assembled, let alone painted, a lot of it. Oliver Cromwell is done, but I have a couple of hundred Warlord English Civil War figures still on their frames. At the Salute just gone, my attention focused on slightly more expensive figures. Most of my money went on figures for Bushido and 7TV. This at least left me with a manageable amount of stuff to build and paint.
I'm concerned that I am acquiring far more than I can possibly do anything with. I know this is the perennial wargamers problem. but I think it's becoming particularly acute in my case. It comes to something when you are casting around for things to spend money on at an event because you don't want to go and not spend anything.
Taking a step back, I have plenty of models for most of the games I actually want to play and would rather focus on getting them painted and playing with them. And yet, the conventions loom and I end up persuading myself that I just need one or two more things for each army, and before you know it I have another bag full of metal and plastic.
I'm planning to attend the UK Games Expo
for the first time ever this year (no particular issue with it I just
never seemed to get organised before) and I'm hoping to make it an
experience about playing games and not just buying them. It can be the test, can I go and enjoy a gaming weekend without having to take half of it home with me? I have plenty to be getting on with from Salute, this event does not have to be about spending money.
I recognise and understand your sentiments exactly. I made a decision not to go to salute this year after a run of going for about 10 years in a row! I personally like collecting citadel miniatures from the late 80s and early nineties, and I find all I need on eBay, so the draw to go to conventions isn't so strong. I realised it was a tradition I had got myself into, and with the cost of ticket, travel and the ease of purchasing new shiney things I didn't know I wanted till I saw them, it was a case of readjusting my financial priority.
ReplyDeleteIf only I could purchase a few extra hours in the day as easily as a blister of my favourite addiction. I might get some painting done!